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Retreat Dharma Talks
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IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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2017-02-08
Reflection: Heart Wisdom of your Future Self
9:19
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Tara Brach
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By connecting with your future self, this reflection guides you in accessing the deep wisdom and unconditional love of your own awakening heart.
“I returned to the river. I returned to the mountains. I begged – I begged to wed every object and creature. And when they accepted, God was ever present in my arms. And He did not say, ‘Where have you been?’ For then I knew my soul – every soul – has always held him.”
Excerpt from: When I Was the Forest – Meister Eckhart
NOTE: this reflection from the closing of Tara’s talk: Trusting Our Awakening Heart
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2017-02-08
Meditation: At Home in the Moment
20:06
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Tara Brach
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This meditation cultivates a gentle, wakeful presence in the body, with the “smile down” and then guides us to resting in a home base of sensations or the breath. We then open to whatever arises with a clear and inclusive attention, saying Yes to the life that is here.
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2017-02-08
Trusting Our Awakening Heart
50:51
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Tara Brach
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The more we trust that our awareness and heart are awakening, the more we find ease, grace and true empowerment in our lives. This talk explores two pathways of deepening our sense of belonging and trust: direct presence with the pain of separation, and turning toward the loving presence that is increasingly manifesting through these human forms.
” … we need people who are able to respond from the heart – not from an angry or egoic reactivity, but from real wisdom.”
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2017-02-15
Meditation: Sitting Like a Mountain
25:28
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Tara Brach
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Meditation can empower us as we learn to access our potential for stability, strength and openness. This meditation calls on the image of a mountain as we awaken our body and mind to a full, vibrant presence.
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2017-02-15
Being Truthful
54:05
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Tara Brach
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The grounds of happiness, loving relationships and a just and flourishing society is honesty. And yet our current times are characterized by a plethora of deception – both societally, and often in more subtle ways, in our personal lives. This talk examines the deep conditioning we have to deceive others, and to avoid facing and acknowledging our own vulnerability. We then explore how we can commit ourselves to deepening our truth telling, and in so doing, creating a climate of integrity and trust that can lead to a more compassionate world.
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2017-02-22
Listening to the Song – Part I
49:01
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Tara Brach
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Listening is more than a communications skill, it is a capacity that awakens our awareness. As we learn to listen inwardly, we begin to understand and care for the life that is here. And as we listen to others, that same intimacy emerges. In this two-part series we examine the blocks to listening and the practices that cultivate this essential domain of human potential. Our focus is both on the transformational power of listening in our personal lives, and also the necessity for deep listening if we are to bring healing to our wider society.
"Listening is the forerunner. If we don’t listen to the pain within and around us, we can’t respond."
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2017-03-01
Meditation - A Sky-Like Mind
23:57
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Tara Brach
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This meditation begins with listening to sounds as a portal to spacious awareness. In addition to guiding attention to naturally occurring sounds, Tara plays chimes and gongs to deepen the experience of receptivity and openness. The meditation progresses to include all experience - sounds, sensations, thoughts, feelings - in the vast, transparent, timeless space of awareness.
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2017-03-01
Listening to the Song - Part 2
48:27
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Tara Brach
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Listening is more than a communications skill, it is a capacity that awakens our awareness. As we learn to listen inwardly, we begin to understand and care for the life that is here. And as we listen to others, that same intimacy emerges. In this two-part series we examine the blocks to listening and the practices that cultivate this essential domain of human potential. Our focus is both on the transformational power of listening in our personal lives, and also the necessity for deep listening if we are to bring healing to our wider society.
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2017-03-08
Meditation: Getting Lost and Coming Back Here
19:45
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Tara Brach
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This meditation establishes a sense of presence, of being Here, through a body scan and awakening the senses. We then notice when we’re lost and relax back into the wakeful stillness – the Hereness – that is our true home. Our practice concludes with the beautiful poem “Lost” by David Wagoner.
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2017-03-08
Healing Trauma: The Light Shines Through the Broken Places
53:05
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Tara Brach
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Most of us have encountered trauma either in our own direct experience or with someone in our immediate circle. This talk examines the shame and suffering that arise from trauma and how meditation practices can support a path to full spiritual healing. We focus on practices that help us access a sense of love and safety, and then increase our capacity to bring presence to the unprocessed, unlived life in the body. (Note: For many who suffer from PTSD, therapy is invaluable and these practices are not considered as a substitute.)
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